BRECKLAND BIRDING Saturday 7th March 2015

The day dawned bright and sunny as we made our way northwards into the Brecks. Our first port of call was a traditional displaying site for the mighty Goshawk and almost immediately we picked up a male GOSHAWK as it circled over an area of woodland and displaced large numbers of WOODPIGEONS.

Two WOODLARKS sang overhead giving good views and up to 7 COMMON BUZZARDS took advantage of the spring-like conditions. Just before we moved on, a different stunning male GOSHAWK flew along the trees giving great views.

A drive was taken along a few local roads and it didn’t take long for us to find a RED KITE being harried by the local corvids.

It was then down to Santon Downham where despite a thorough search we could only hear FIRECREST singing but it was not seen!

We then visited an area of woodland in search of a wintering Great Grey Shrike but after a good look we drew a blank, although we did find more WOODLARKS and a cracking male YELLOWHAMMER.

Lunch was enjoyed in the carpark at Lynford Arboretum where good numbers of BRIMSTONE and a few RED ADMIRAL BUTTERFLIES were seen.

We then took a walk down to the feeders where a female HAWFINCH fed on the ground and after some careful searching, we found another two males feeding nearby and giving great scope views. Other goodies here included BRAMBLING, SISKIN, MARSH TIT, NUTHATCH and a brief TREECREEPER.

With the weather beautiful and warm we tried another area in the forest and eventually came across a drinking pool where up to 3 BULLFINCH, LESSER REDPOLLS, SISKINS, LINNETS and lots of more common birds came to drink. The walk back gave great views of another pair of WOODLARK performing their song flight and perching in treetops.

The day concluded with a brief visit to Lackford Lakes and a quick look at the gull roost, the highlight being a strange-looking BLACK-HEADED GULL that was all white with black wingtips!